


Like A Thief

by camichats



Category: Marvel
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Breaking Up & Making Up, F/M, Getting Back Together, Implied Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-18
Updated: 2018-07-18
Packaged: 2019-06-12 13:41:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15341067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/camichats/pseuds/camichats
Summary: Natalie, or whatever her name actually was, conned him. Tony didn’t hold it against her, and seeing her again at a gala fifteen years later was more humorous than bothering.





	Like A Thief

"Natalie?" Tony asked. What was she doing here? She hadn't called to say she was coming over, and he knew they didn't have plans because he'd blown off a crappy party to come back home without telling anyone.   
  
She froze, turning around with a plastic smile and hiding her backpack behind her as subtly as she could manage. It would have been more subtle if she were supposed to be here and not dressed in all black with her hair pulled back-- a combination she never went for, citing that it washed out her face. "Hey, Tony. I thought you were at that party with Rhodey?"   
  
"Clearly." Tony sighed, drooping. There was no use in pretending he was fine if she'd played him as completely as she evidently had.

"Just so you know, a better cover would have been to say that you were trying to surprise me when I got back. Only saying that you thought I was somewhere else just makes you seem more guilty, not less. What did you take?"   
  
Evidently, Natalie didn't see the point in continuing the charade now that she'd been caught. Her smile slid off her face as if it had never been there. "Nothing from Stark Industries, if that's what you're worried about."   
  
Tony nodded. "Good to know. So what did you take?" She hesitated, so Tony added, "Either you tell me or you can tell the cops."   
  
She pulled up an unfamiliar, sly little smile and cocked her hip. She looked straight out of a panel of Catwoman, only her clothes were more functional than sexy. Tony got the feeling that she would have changed that if she thought she'd run into anyone. "Aw Tony, you wouldn't turn me in would you?"   
  
"For fuck's sake Natalie, just tell me what you took. If it's Howard's, I might just let you leave."   
  
"Can I get that in writing?"   
  
Tony stared at her a minute longer. "You took the pearls didn't you."   
  
"Among other things," she admitted. "Think about it for a minute though, Tony. Would you rather I have your mother's necklace, or the next gold digger that Howard brings around?"   
  
"Are you trying to tell me you aren't just going to sell them? In pieces probably. Something that big can't be safe to sell in one place. Without any documentation, they'd probably think you stole it. So the real question is, would I rather know it was safe here with me-- admittedly on the neck of the next woman dear old Dad takes to bed, but safe all the same-- or would I prefer to know it was ripped apart for your gain?"   
  
Natalie was starting to look nervous, glancing about every so often as if he was stalling-- he wasn't. "What do you want, Tony?"   
  
"How much would you get for that necklace do you think?"   
  
"What?"   
  
"The necklace. If you sell it, how much do you think you'll get selling it to jewelry stores and pawn shops?"   
  
"Around five thousand." Between the pearls themselves, the diamonds and gold decorating it, that sounded about right. If she haggled, she could get another five hundred, and if she dressed in something revealing and found a pervert manning the counter, she'd get a thousand. It was worth more than that, of course, but she’d never be able to get full value for it.   
  
Tony nodded slowly. "Nice little sum. Tell you what, we go to my room right now, and I'll pay you that amount for the necklace. You give it to me, and you can leave with everything else."   
  
"And you won't call anyone?"   
  
"Nope."   
  
"You won't tell them it was me? Not even Howard?"   
  
Tony rolled his eyes. "Yeah cause that's the sort of thing I want to admit to him. It'll be embarrassing enough telling people we broke up without telling them that you robbed me. Believe me, that's not the sort of attention I want." He paused as he thought of something. Huh. He was pretty sure that this meant he was actually the one who was too good for the other in this relationship. That was a first, especially for someone like Natalie. "Do we have a deal?"   
  
Natalie's eyes were guarded and calculating, but she still said, "Sure."   
  
The walk to his room was awkward and slow going, with both of them keeping an eye on the other to make sure they weren't going to take off. They did make it though, and he reached into his Darth Vader cookie jar to pull out a roll of hundreds. He took off the rubber band and started counting it out so she wouldn't feel the need to check before she left. When he reached five thousand and kept counting, Natalie frowned, a little line appearing between her eyebrows. "There. Six thousand." He shoved the rest of it back in the cookie jar and looked at her, waiting for her to take the necklace out. She was obviously suspicious, but she wasn’t going to turn down the extra money.   
  
She slid the backpack off her shoulders and pulled out a plastic bag. She reached in and retrieved the necklace, holding it aloft as she padded towards Tony. He held the cash out, making sure to keep his fingers loose. She set the necklace in his waiting hand and snatched the money out of the other, hurriedly putting the cash and now-empty bag into her backpack and zipping it up. She threw it on again and headed for the door, keeping an eye on him in case he decided to chase her.   
  
But Tony was just sitting on his bed, necklace in his hands and a blank look on his face. "Pleasure doing business with you," he mumbled as she reached the doorway.   
  
"You as well, Mister Stark." With that, Natalie took off, running through the mansion. She didn't know if Tony was going to call the cops or not, but she wasn't going to stick around and find out. No one stopped her in the halls or on the grounds, and she tentatively declared the mission a success when she made it off the land. She thought Tony would keep to his word, but she'd be gone by tomorrow morning and it wouldn't matter anymore. She was going to dye her hair blonde and maybe go to Texas for a few years; they had some good stuff there. She did regret not being able to try on that necklace though. And that's the last thought she let herself have about it. 

* * *

**Fifteen Years Later**   
  
Tony was sitting at the bar, nursing a gin and tonic. He hated gin and tonic, and he wasn't sure that trying to cut back on his drinking was worth this terrible taste. Maybe he should just chug juice through these events instead of sipping occasionally on something that made him want to gag.   
  
Someone sidled up to him, but he didn't look at them until he heard them order their own drink in a voice that was awfully familiar. He glanced up and- yep. Natalie, in the flesh, showing an impressive amount of skin for a dress that was technically floor length. It was red and sparkling, but that was no surprise. Low cut, barely covering her breasts on the sides, backless except for a few thin, mostly decorative straps, and slit nearly to her hip on one leg. Her hair was still red, and for some reason that was what surprised him most. He had no proof that she'd ever changed her hair, but he had assumed it was part of how she worked.   
  
She glanced at him when she saw him looking, doing a double-take when she recognized him. "Tony," she said, outwardly pleasant but clearly-- to him, at least-- hesitant.   
  
He nodded at her. "What's your name again?"   
  
The corner of her mouth lifted before she evened it out. He was giving her an out, and she knew it. "Jessica."   
  
Tony wrinkled his nose. "You don't look like a Jessica."   
  
"I didn't choose it." To anyone else, it would sound like a jab at her parents, but he knew she was hinting at something else; something, though he didn’t know what.   
  
For all he resented her part in breaking his heart, he didn't actually blame her. He was rich, she was running a con, that's just how it worked. At least she hadn't taken his blueprints like a certain asshole he could name cough- Sunset- cough. "So Jessica, still doing the same work? Looks like you've upgraded since I last saw you." Of course, posing as a college student, no one expected her to dress nice or have much money.   
  
The bartender presented her with her martini, and she gave him a smile in thanks. She sipped it and turned back to Tony, idly stirring her drink with the olive. "I suppose it depends on who you ask."   
  
"Oh?" Tony raised an eyebrow. "I thought you'd be making a shit load more money now." It was strange enough that she was talking to him, but why did she even show up? She had no reason to think he wouldn't turn on her, and there was no way she didn't know he was attending.   
  
"Unfortunately not. More honest, but it doesn't exactly pay more."   
  
"What are you talking about?" Tony asked, completely thrown. He thought he knew how this conversation was going, but apparently not.   
  
She took another sip and winked at him.   
  
Tony laughed, shaking his head. "That's fair. You here with anyone?"   
  
She made a face and spoke under her breath. "If Hammer gropes my ass one more time, I can't promise not to shoot him."   
  
"You'd be doing the whole world a favor. I vote you do it," Tony said, toasting her with his drink.   
  
She opened her mouth to say something but paused, eyes darting to the side and she threw on an obviously fake smile and put a hand on his arm. She laughed, high and with that pitch women tended to get when flirting. "I'd love to Mister Stark, but I'm afraid I have another engagement tonight."   
  
"Tony!" Justin fucking Hammer called as if he weren't three feet away. Instead of putting his arm around Natalie/Jessica, he put an arm around Tony's shoulders like they were best friends. "I see you and Jessica have met, isn't she something?"   
  
"She sure is. What did you threaten her with to get her here with you?"   
  
Hammer guffawed, and Tony couldn't help the widening of despair in his eyes as he took a pull from his drink. "Now, now Tony don't be like that. Beautiful women aren't just for you, you know."   
  
Tony wanted to run away-- because who the hell talked about these sort of things with people who didn't even tolerate them?-- but Hammer's arm was tight around him, and with Hammer on one side, the bar on the other, and Natalie/Jessica in front of him, there wasn't really anywhere for him to run away to.   
  
Fortunately, she came to his rescue. "Let's not monopolize Mister Stark's time, Justin. I'm sure we can find... something more interesting to do with our time?" As she spoke, she trailed her hand up his arm and leaned forward, bringing even more attention to her breasts. Obviously, Hammer took her up on that offer, and they walked away, his hand too low on her back to be decent. Tony turned back to the bar and ordered something fruity, trying to chase away the bad taste in his mouth that wasn't just from the gin and tonic.   
  
A couple hours later, as the gala started to wind down and people were about to start leaving, federal agents came in and arrested several people who-- apparently-- had negotiated illegal overseas deals tonight. Hammer was one of them, and that certainly made this a night to remember. Tony watched it all happen from the bar, this time holding a water. He snorted when he saw Natalie/Jessica talking with the agents, obviously familiar and probably coworkers, not just people she helped out from time to time. She was a fed; that was something else, and certainly not something he'd been expecting. It also made her earlier comments make sense.   
  
Everyone was getting interviewed before they were allowed to leave, telling the agents what they knew about the arrested parties. Tony was in no rush, so he stuck around. Eventually, Natalie/Jessica and a sandy haired blonde man walked up to him. "Tony this is Clint, my partner, Clint, Tony."   
  
"Hey man," Clint said, taking the seat beside him. She stayed standing, and Tony couldn't have imagined a stranger scenario. His ex who had stolen from him (well, his family technically) was now a fed who had introduced him to her work partner.   
  
"Hey. Fun night?" Tony asked both of them.   
  
"It got better when we arrested them," she said, glaring at the memory of being on Hammer's arm all night.   
  
"The rest of it was pretty much a bust. You know, I always thought you'd drink more," Clint noted. "You were sitting here all night, but you only had three drinks."   
  
Tony didn't know what to say to that, so he just shrugged. "Isn't this the part where you both stare me down to get me to tell you everything I know about the assholes you just arrested?"   
  
"Oh I think Nat will talk to you plenty tonight, won't you Nat?" Clint was grinning at her, and she glared back.   
  
"Don't you have a boyfriend at home waiting for you to show up?"   
  
"Oh shit, yeah." He kissed Nat on the cheek and left, reminding them to "Use protection!" as he went.   
  
"Nat?"   
  
"Natasha. Natasha Romanova."   
  
"You're Russian?"   
  
"Yep." She gestured at his glass with a questioning look, and he handed it over. "I'd only been in the country for a year when I met you. I didn't have much money and you were rich, so." She shrugged. "As soon as I stepped foot in America, I was conning people. I'd tried applying for jobs, but none of them called me, and well, I knew how to use my body to get what I wanted."   
  
"I get it. Though you have to know Natasha, if you'd asked me for money, I would have given it to you."   
  
She sighed and set the now-empty glass on the counter, the ice tinkling as it settled. "I know. I didn't want to believe it though. I knew how to steal, so that's what I did."   
  
"And somehow you ended up being a federal agent?"   
  
"I was trying to work over a terrorist, got caught in the middle. Clint saved me from getting shot in the face and talked me into turning my life around."   
  
"Sounds like a good guy."   
  
"He is." Tony didn't say anything. Natasha was looking at him, and he was content to wait until she worked up to what she was sticking around for. "I didn't want to leave you. Back then. If you hadn't caught me, I was going to stay."   
  
"That would've been a pretty stupid move, Nat, and you've never come across as stupid."   
  
She raised an eyebrow. "That so?"   
  
"Yes. Smart and gorgeous, you've got it all."   
  
"Smart, gorgeous, and rich is having it all, Tony. As a person who has it all, you should now that."   
  
"Maybe my personal definition of having it all is different."   
  
"Let me guess: love?"   
  
Tony shrugged. "What else? I embrace the cliche."   
  
Natasha eyed him for a moment before reaching a decision. "Would you like to accompany me back to my apartment?"   
  
Tony laughed, low and self-deprecating. "I don't think you're allowed to con people now that you're working for the government. But thanks, it was a tempting offer."   
  
"That's not what I meant, Tony. I want you to come home with me because I missed you." She swallowed, shifting her weight and looking uncomfortable in her own skin. "Clint has a big speech about regrets and fixing what you can. Leaving you behind to think that I never cared about you has always been one of mine. I'd like to make it better." She sighed and muttered, "I can't believe you just made me say that out loud."   
  
"Uh. What?"   
  
She glared at him. "I miss you. We should go to my place and you should remind me why, because right now I still feel like I dressed up for that worm, and I'd like to be convinced that it was actually for you."   
  
"Really?" She stared at him flatly. "Okay, we're going. I'm still not sure I believe you, but okay." They started walking, and as soon as they reached a hallway with no one else in sight, she pressed him up against the wall and kissed him breathless.   
  
"Is that enough to convince you?" she purred, dragging his earlobe through her teeth.   
  
"I don't know. I feel like I need more evidence."   
  
Later, lying on her bed with both of them trying to catch their breath and Natasha's lipstick smeared all over his mouth and neck, she trailed her hand down his chest. "Convinced that I missed you yet?"   
  
Tony caught her hand and stared at it. Her fingers were painted, the same shade of red that he remembered her liking from back when they were dating. "I don't know," he admitted. "I thought you loved me the first time around."   
  
"I did." His eyes shot to hers, and she gave him a sad smile. "I wasn't playing you near as much as you think. I didn't know that you had anything worth stealing when we got together. The only time I tried to manipulate you was when you caught me, and it didn't even work. I know I broke your trust in me. I don't expect it to be fixed overnight. All I need to know is if you're willing to give me a chance."   
  
Tony searched her face, trying to judge her sincerity. He thought she meant what she was saying, but was that enough? Even as his mind tried to convince him to be cautious about this, his heart was already twining with hers. "Okay. But you're not invited to my house for the first month. At least."   
  
She smiled and kissed him, slow and sweet. "Thank you."   
  
Tony sighed and rolled onto his side to face her. "I never got over you, you know."   
  
"Oh?" She seemed delighted by that prospect, propping herself up on her elbow.   
  
He squinted at her. "Do you always have to be taller than me?"   
  
"In a perfect world, yes. Why do you think I was riding you?"   
  
"Because you like being on top?"   
  
"Well, yes, that's part of it. Do you have any idea how many men I've been with that wouldn't let me be on top? It was ridiculous. I think they thought that because I have big tits I wouldn't enjoy it. Either that, or they were a bunch of sexist morons, it's anyone's guess."   
  
"Probably the second one," Tony said, thumbing the curve of one of her breasts. "Would now be a good time to ask you about past partners?"   
  
"Not the best time," she said with a smirk, "but I don't mind. Mostly marks when I was younger, and one brief stint with Clint."   
  
"How many people are we talking?"   
  
"Hmm, maybe twenty? Only once for each of them though. Spend a few months warming them up, sleep with them and take off that night. It was a solid system."   
  
"Sounds like everyone would know it was you."   
  
"Oh they always knew it was me, but nobody wanted to admit that their 'girlfriend' did that to them. Most of the time they didn't even file a report, but I was always long gone and they never had any personal information, just in case. What about you? What's your number?"   
  
"Dating or sex?"   
  
"Both, if you don't mind." She brought Tony's hand up to her mouth and kissed it.   
  
"Alright. Dating is you, Sunset, Tiberius, and Rumiko, so four. Sex is... more complicated. I don't really remember."   
  
"That doesn't sound worrying in the slightest."   
  
"Well." Tony shifted uncomfortably, pulling the blanket on top of himself. "After Sunset I was feeling- low. Took a lot of drugs, woke up with people I didn't remember, saw sex tapes of me online that I had no memory of. I would guess my number's around eighty, but I really don't know. I'm clean, though. I get checked every couple months."   
  
"Hm," she said shortly.   
  
"Does that bother you?"   
  
"Yes, but not in the way you're thinking right now, so stop it." She poked his forehead.   
  
"How are you thinking about it?"   
  
"Same way you're thinking of my history, I'd imagine. It's not the number that matters, it's the way it happened."   
  
"Sounds about right, yeah. You sure you want to do this?" Tony asked quietly. "This can just be one night to get it out of your system if you want, I won't hold it against you."   
  
"I know you wouldn't. But this wasn't fucking out my lingering feelings, Tony. I want a second chance with you. I'll do it right this time." She sighed. "Or at least I'll try to do it right. I don't want to promise you something I can't keep to."   
  
"You haven't."   
  
"Glad you think so. So... ready for round two?"   
  
Tony snorted. "I don't know how young you think I am, but you're wrong. Unless you want to sit on my face, I can do that."   
  
Natasha hummed, rubbing her thumb over his bottom lip. "I remember how good you were with your mouth."   
  
"I've gotten better," he says, a promise in his eyes.   
  
"Well," she said, leaning in to kiss along his chest, "I can't turn that down.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on tumblr [@cami-chats](http://cami-chats.tumblr.com)


End file.
